COIMBATORE: Stray dog menace is a concern for public and local government authorities. Packs of dogs can be often spotted on streets, posing danger to pedestrians and motorists. Lethal attacks on children are occasionally reported in the media. Coimbatore city too has its fair share of problems caused by canines on the loose on the streets and other public places.
Over 27,000 individuals from across the city underwent treatment at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) in 2023 for dog bites as against as against 25,910 people treated in 2022 (box). The negligence of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) in monitoring the sterilisation activities carried out by the NGOs has even resulted in a huge scam. The CCMC councillors apprised the civic body chief on multiple occasions on the alarming number of stray dog bite cases. However, no action was taken. The survey taken by the NGO Dogs of Coimbatore in 2022 on behalf of the CCMC revealed the presence of a total of 1,11,074 strays in the city.
About three NGOs were assigned the task of stray dog sterilisation in the five zones of the city. NGO named Humane Animal Society (HAS) was assigned the West and North zones, Prani Mithran NGO was given the South and East zones and the remaining Central zone was assigned to the NGO, Asra. Neutering of stray dogs and rabies vaccination for stray dogs are carried out at Seeranaickenpalayam (HAS), Ondipudur (Prani Mithran) and Ukkadam (Asra) Animal Birth Control Centres (ABCs).
“Neither the NGOs nor the CCMC officials are responding properly. The NGOs have been catching 10 strays and claiming to have caught 20 dogs. Despite instructing multiple times, the NGOs and officials are not informing the councillors while arriving at the wards to catch dogs. The mayor is also not taking strict action. The surgeries are not being carried out properly as even dogs that were sterilised give birth to puppies. A big scam has been happening,” said Meena Logu, CCMC Central Zone Chairperson.
The licence issued for Prani Mithra was cancelled by the CCMC after the officials found several violations by the NGO in August 2023. The two zones assigned to them were then handed over to Asra. However, the CCMC has decided to rope in Prani Mithran once again now after clearing the issues. Meanwhile, the councillors and the social activists have slammed the civic body over their negligence in controlling the strays.
Kesica Jayapalan, Founder, Dogs of Coimbatore and ASRA, told TNIE, “Although the government had approved Rs 1,650 per dog for sterilisation, the CCMC has been providing only Rs 700. The civic body has not provided a single rupee to the NGOs since July 2023. Funding for ABC programmes is a major issue. Animal Welfare Board of India is not giving licences to any of the NGOs to sterilise dogs in Tamil Nadu.
Apart from that, there are numerous infrastructure issues with the ABC centres provided by the CCMC.” Sources said that the CCMC veterinarian Saravanan, who is also the director of V O Chidambaranar Zoo, is being negligent towards sterilisation and refused to provide details of the stray dog population and sterilisation to the social activists under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
A staggering number of 27,235 dog bite cases were reported in the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) in 2023. Sources in the CMCH said that although there were no rabies cases or rabies deaths reported in the past year, the dog bite numbers have been on the increasing trend over the years. However, the data in this regard were not available. Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran, said, “The funds for the sterilisation have been signed and released a few days ago.
After complaints against the NGOs, we have planned to monitor the sterilisation through the Integrated Command and Control Centre and by affixing tags on dog’s ears. To bring down the stray dog population, we have planned to set up more ABC centres in the city. Currently, work for an additional ABC centre is under progress at Vellalore.” The commissioner refused to comment on the delay in releasing and hiking the fund, complaint against the veterinarian and roping in the same NGO despite suspending its licence.